Sleepless In Space
by DarkSwanApprentice
Summary: Reylo one-shot. Ben is having difficulty sleeping, and then he wakes up to quite the surprise in his bed.


Ben tossed and turned all night, in a half asleep state. Rest had not come easily to him since he became Supreme Leader. He blamed it on the stress of running the entirety of the First Order. Even though he wouldn't admit it to him, deep down he knew the truth.

He let her go. She was gone. He had every chance to start something with her that could be amazing, and he threw it awake. There was no going back now, he saw the look on her face when she left Crait in his father's ship.

Suddenly, he heard a soft hum next to him and felt a warm body moving under the sheets. He stealthily leapt from his bed and called his lightsaber over to him, igniting it, all without waking the newest inhabitant of his bed.

Under the illumination of the red saber, she was there. Wrapped in his silk sheets was Rey, clearly unaware of where she was, or else she wouldn't be sleeping so peacefully.

Snoke had taken responsibility for the bond created between Ben and Rey, but it appeared he had been lying. With him dead, this shouldn't be happening.

Ben circled the bed, examining her close up. He never had seen her in any state but an anxious one. At the moment, she was completely relaxed with her guard down. Not that he could hurt her, and not just because it was proven impossible when she shot him the first time he appeared before her and nothing happened.

Her hair flowed freely, longer since he had last seen her. She seemed to be wearing a thin night dress. Wherever she was, it was warm.

Something was wrong. Under the sheets, her leg was clearly much larger than it should be.

He very carefully lifted it up, not wanting to expose more than the lower half of her legs. He gasped, her left leg was wrapped carefully. It was injured, and clearly from the last time he had almost caught them. He didn't want to hurt her, he wanted to capture her and keep her somewhere safe. He wanted to end the resistance but he knew that not a thing in the entire galaxy could drive him to lay a hand on her now.

He dropped the sheet again, he felt guilty. He moved back to the side of the bed he had been sleeping on and carefully sat down, not wanting to wake her and risk her screaming and standing on her bad leg.

All there was to do was wait for the bond to take her away again. In the meantime, he watched her. She was on her side, her bad leg draped over a pillow that was clearly from her own bed. She hugged the pillow from his bed, burrowing her head into it. The bond was getting stronger if she could do that.

He carefully reached a hand out to brush at some of her hair that had fallen in her face. She didn't move, but she did smile a little bit in her sleep. He knew she was lacking in physical human contact, she grew up alone on Jakku.

He continued to stroke her hair, then her cheek. He eventually laid on his own side, propping his head up on his hand and continuing to watch her.

She opened her eyes slightly, and he darted his hand back, afraid he had woken her. She looked right at him, still mostly asleep.

"Ben." She smiled as she said his name in a groggy voice.

She closed her eyes again and moved close to him. Meanwhile, he completely froze. He was shirtless and wearing a pair of loose and comfortable pants to sleep in, she was now within an inch of him and he could feel her breath on his chest.

He was terrified to put an arm over her and settle into this, no matter how much he wanted to.

And then she curled herself into him and rested a hand on his chest. She thought he was present in her dreams. He gave in to temptation and wrapped an arm around her back, tucking his head in and resting a cheek on her forehead. She would be gone soon, and chances are he never would be able to do this again.

She breathed deeply and it soothed him into a very heavy sleep, better than any he had gotten in a long time. In the morning, he wouldn't dare admit it to himself that she had been just the thing he needed. Then he noticed the pillow she had been gripping tightly was missing from his bed. Now she would know it wasn't a dream, if she remembered it at all.

Meanwhile, Rey awoke a couple of hours after Ben, having slept much better than usual. She stretched and stood up. She felt like she had slept for days on end.

When she turned around to carefully make her bed, she noticed a foreign pillow. It was black and silken, unlike her older but still moderately comfortable bed issued by the resistance.

She picked it up and ran her fingers over the fabric.

All at once, flashbacks ran through her mind. The feeling of someone stroking her hair, pleasant smells, brown eyes in the darkness, and Ben.

In the middle of the night, they were connected again while they both slept. And in her state, her walls came down. She wanted to see him again, and she had. Oh no, she had actually smiled at him and moved herself closer so she could seek comfort in him. And she had taken a pillow from his bed, which told her that their bond was increasing in strength.

Did that mean he would be able to harm her now? If so, why didn't he last night? She tired to recall his reaction, she felt so humiliated at this. He must have been so confused and irritated.

But then why didn't he wake her and threaten her? She dug deeper into her dreamlike memories. She opened her eyes and remembered him watching her, not with anger in his eyes but concern. She remembered she felt happy to see him, and of all things, she felt his arm encircle her when she moved closer to him. And she was comforted by that. Chills ran down her neck at the memory of feeling him run his fingers through her hair, pleasant chills. She wanted it to happen again, maybe it would occur more at night when she was asleep. If he wanted to attack her, he would have done so.

She hugged the pillow to herself and smelled it, it was the familiar smell of him. Comforting and saddening at the same time. All she wanted was to pull him back into the light. Maybe she wanted more, she didn't know. She would never find out, as long as he was set in his ways.


End file.
